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To be eligible for the PFS program, noncustodial fathers had to satisfy the following criteria: (1) be under- or unemployed, (2) have child support orders in place but not currently be making regular payments, and (3) have children for whom they owed support who were currently or formerly Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare recipients. The study went through two stages of random assignment. In the first stage, lists of nonpaying noncustodial fathers in welfare-related cases who appeared to meet the PFS eligibility rules were randomly assigned to one of two groups: (1) two-thirds were assigned to a group subject to extra outreach, and (2) one-third was assigned to a group subject to the standard child support enforcement procedures. Only the parents assigned to the extra outreach group were brought to a case review or hearing, at which their eligibility and appropriateness for PFS were identified. In the second stage, half of those assessed as eligible and appropriate for PFS were randomly assigned and referred to the PFS program group; the other half of those eligible were randomly assigned to the comparison group subject to standard child support enforcement practices and were not eligible for PFS between March 1994 and June 1996.
The study began in 1994 and reported results two years after the random assignment (in 1996).
Funders of Parents’ Fair Share included the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Pew Charitable Trusts, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, U.S. Department of Labor, Smith Richardson Foundation, Ford Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, and the Northwest Area Foundation.
Characteristics are available for the early cohort of people only (randomly assigned from March 1994 to June 1995). The majority of the noncustodial parents referred to PFS were fathers (98 percent), of whom about 64 percent were African American, with most of the rest evenly divided between White (17 percent) and Hispanic (17 percent) men. The average age of the sample was 31 years, and nearly two-thirds were never formally married. The sample members generally had low levels of educational attainment; very few (about 2 percent) of the fathers had education beyond high school, and 48 percent did not have a high school diploma or general education diploma. In all, 17 percent of people in the sample were employed at the time of random assignment.
There were a number of providers by site. Lead state agencies tended to be state-level Departments of Human Services. Lead local agencies could be local Departments of Human Services or nonprofit organizations. Programs were implemented in community organizations, such as Goodwill. Additional local providers partnered with the implementing organizations.
The PFS program was piloted in 1992 (two-year pilot) and the full-scale evaluation (reported here) began in 1994.
The PFS program services had four core components: (1) peer support that was built around a curriculum called Responsible Fatherhood; (2) employment and training activities—including job search assistance and opportunities for education and skills training, as well as occupational training, on-the-job training, and paid work experiences; (3) enhanced child support enforcement; and (4) mediation services for parents to resolve their differences. Participants also received case management services.
People who were assigned to the comparison group were subject to standard child support enforcement practices. They were not eligible for PFS services yet were free to participate in other services in their community on their own initiative.
Parents were ordered to participate by the court. Failure to participate would result in referral to child support enforcement.
The study does not explicitly describe the service receipt duration.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Pew Charitable Trusts, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, U.S. Department of Labor, Smith Richardson Foundation, Ford Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, and the Northwest Area Foundation
The study took place in seven sites across the United States: Springfield, MA; Trenton, NJ; Los Angeles, CA; Dayton, OH; Grand Rapids, MI; Jacksonville, FL; and Memphis, TN.
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